


The Path We Choose to Walk

by Xyzcl



Series: The Power of Malevolence [1]
Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tainted (Tales of Zestiria), M/M, Stargazing, Tainted Mikleo (Tales of Zestiria), Tainted Sorey (Tales of Zestiria)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25441300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xyzcl/pseuds/Xyzcl
Summary: After being struck with pure malevolence by Heldalf, Mikleo wonders why he's even fighting against it anymore. Talking with Sorey under the stars just makes him question why he's fighting it even more.
Relationships: Mikleo/Sorey (Tales of Zestiria)
Series: The Power of Malevolence [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1842715
Kudos: 19





	The Path We Choose to Walk

**Author's Note:**

> Written for michi_cocopop on Twitter as the first in what's going to become a strange series of fics, I hope you like this!

Mikleo stared up at the night sky as he wondered silently where his adventure was going. He could already see the changes in Sorey from the taint that had started to affect both of them, feel the darkness growing in his heart as the malevolence spread through him. It was as if he was in a room slowly filling with water, fighting to keep his head from going under while every bit of water that started to fill his lungs only brought a strange feeling of serenity. Every new bit of malevolence flowing through him only brought more of a strange calm. Lailah could feel the growing darkness in him and Sorey through their bond with her as the prime lord and yet the more the malevolence grew, the less they saw her. Edna had broken her pact and left for Rayfalke to stay with her brother, Zavied following suit soon after with Rose leaving to rejoin the Scattered Bones last, leaving only Mikleo, Sorey, and Lailah to try and fight the malevolence flowing through the young shepherd and his water seraph best friend. With every new day that passed, Mikleo could feel something pulling him deeper under the water, asking him why he still fought to stay pure. Why not just give in? Why not just let the malevolence take over? Why continue fighting to save a world that obviously didn’t care? He didn’t know, he had no answers to the questions pulling at the back of his mind. 

“There you are Mikleo, I’ve been looking for you.” 

Mikleo looked over as Sorey sat down in the grass beside him, seeing the ruins of Lohgrin looming behind him. The way the moonlight shone on his friend made him seem even more breathtaking as the young shepherd laid in the grass beside the boy he’d known his whole life. This was different than the long nights they’d spent stargazing in Elysia while hiding from Zenrus to keep from being told off and punished, this was different than the first nights of their journey while they camped out away from towns after long days spent fighting hellions, this was something more serious than anything else they had been through before. The young water seraph reached over for his childhood friend’s hand, holding onto the now calloused hand he'd felt in his own many times. They'd always been together, no matter what else happened. The two of them had promised nothing would tear them apart before they'd even met Alisha. This was just another challenge for them to face together, just another step in their lives before they could finally live without worry. He remembered stories Edna had told them about hellions who had fought by her brother's side before he'd become a dragon, how they'd lived longer than natural human lives. If they were human before and had lived as long as they had, what would happen if Sorey became a hellion? Would he live as long as a seraph if he gave in to the malevolence taking over his body?

“Sorey, why are we fighting the malevolence? The humans don’t care about the state of the world, why do you have to put yourself in harm’s way if they aren’t even willing to care about their neighbors?” Mikelo asked as he shifted so he was laying on his side facing the young shepherd. 

“I’m the shepherd, I’m supposed to save the world Mikleo.” Sorey explained while shifting so he was laying on his side as well to face his friend more comfortably. 

“The same world that keeps treating you like a criminal?” Mikleo whispered, reaching over to run his fingers through the human’s thick brown hair. “The world that keeps calling you a liar when you’ve never told a lie in your life?” 

Sorey grabbed the hand running through his hair, wondering silently when the water seraph’s eyes had begun to look more pink than their usual lavender while he pressed a soft kiss to the familiarly calloused palm in his grip. “They’re just scared Mikleo, they don’t mean it.”

“Scared enough to ambush you in alleyways? Scared enough to plant a fake shephard who can’t even see the seraphim? Scared enough to try to buy you like a slave to do their bidding?” Mikleo let out an exasperated huff while he watched his friend place kisses along his palm and the pads of each of his fingers. “They keep treating you like some common criminal, why do we keep trying to save them when they don’t care?”

“What about the seraphim? If we don’t stop Heldalf, he could hurt everyone in Elysia eventually.” Sorey explained calmly, his soft kisses making their way down to the smaller boy’s pale wrist. 

“Gramps can protect them, he’s kept them safe this long.” Mikleo closed his eyes, focusing on the warm press of the brunet’s lips on his skin. “We could run away to the edge of the continent where no one can find us, find a place where no one’s heard of the shepherd before and just pretend this never happened.” 

“Mikleo, look at me.” 

The command was quiet, he knew he didn’t have to obey if he didn’t want to and yet, Mikleo opened his eyes to look at Sorey anyway.The same eyes that used to be a familiar shade of green he’d gotten lost in so many times before were now a pale golden shade that didn’t seem to match the human. They were intense in a way that was different from his normal shade of green and almost unearthly jarring. They were a color brought upon him by the malevolence flowing through his body, a proof of the darkness taking over him.

“Mikleo, do you really think I could hide when I look like this? Humans get scared when they see my eyes just like seraphim get scared when they see yours. If we run away, we’ll be running for the rest of our lives, I can’t put you through that.” Sorey explained as he pulled his friend closer. 

“So what do you plan on doing then? If we’re not running away, what do you suppose we do?” Mikleo asked as he shifted to rest his head on the other boy’s extended arm.

Sorey offered a mischievous grin, pressing their foreheads together. “We defeat Heldalf, free Maotelus, and save the world. Except this time, we do it in a less shepherd-like way. The humans already think I’m a bad guy, maybe we should give them a reason to think that.” 

“You’re hopeless.” Mikleo rolled his eyes before shifting to lay on his back, the smile on his face giving him away. 

“You love me.” Sorey teased before quickly kissing his friend’s cheek. 

“And Lailah?” the water seraph asked as he thought back to their friend. 

“We’ll need her to be able to defeat Heldalf. After that though, she might need to find a new shepherd. At this point I can’t fight the malevolence inside us, the two of us are pretty much done for. Once I take out Heldalf I can only imagine how much worse off the two of us are gonna be.” 

Mikleo let out a quiet hum as he thought about what could happen to them at the end of their adventure. When humans fell to malevolence, they became hellions. But when seraphim fell to darkness, they usually turned into dragons. That was a rule in their world that he knew he had no say over. If he was lucky, maybe instead of falling to the malevolence fully he would just end up like Symmone, following the next Lord of Calamity with a single minded wish that kept him from becoming a dragon. If Sorey did become the next Lord of Calamity, at the very least he wouldn’t have to worry about losing him to disease like any normal human. The only thing that would be able to stop him at that point would be the rise of another shepherd. 

“We’ll fix this world, but this time we’ll do it our way.” Sorey explained, holding the water seraph close. 

“You’re hopeless.” Mikleo let out a sigh before smiling and playfully shoving his friend. “I’ll follow you no matter what you choose. If it means we both fall to the malevolence along the way then that’s just something we’ll have to deal with.”

“Before we worry about that though, let’s head back inside and get some sleep. Can’t fight hellions if we’re tired!” Sorey replied with his usual bright demeanor. 

Mikleo nodded as he sat up, watching the human get up before following him back into the ruined city. He hoped that through all of this, Sorey would keep at least a little of what made him fall for him in the first place. They were going to fight, that hadn’t changed. Their goal was the same but the way they were going to do it had most definitely changed. They weren’t going to hide anymore, they weren’t going to run. Peace was no longer an option. If they were doing to save the world any time soon, fighting the malevolence inside themselves wasn’t an option any longer.

They had chosen their path and now, they were going to follow it. 


End file.
